I tend to stay at a building whenever I railfan instead of following a train, so I don't know the problems that everyone's experianced whenever chasing a train across the country. However, I do know that it can be a pain. Here's why I wrote this post:
It was Saturday, March 10th, 2012. I had planned on going to a model railroad convention held by the Train Collectors Association's Chattanooga (Tennessee, USA) Division being held at the convention center in Ringgold (Georgia, USA (Why it wasn't being held in Chattanooga, I don't know)). My mom & I took United State Highway 41 to Interchange/Exit Number 345 (Tunnel Hill (Georgia, USA) and Ringgold (Georgia, USA)) with Interstate 75 (Note: The Interchange/Exit Number is approximate), nicknamed 'I-75'. From there, we traveled up Interstate 75 to Exit 350 (Fort Olgethorpe (Georgia, USA)/ Ringgold (Georgia, USA)). We stopped at a traffic light at the bottom of the 'off ramp' (a road that connects the Interstate to a Road at an Interchange/Exit (Ramp) and is a ramp that vehicles take to get 'off' an interstate (Off)) and waited to turned onto the road (Georgia State Highway 2(Highway 2)) and head towards the Convention Center that this Convention was occuring at. However, things began going downhill as soon as we turned onto Highway 2, the smoke began to appear from above the hood of the car. We quickly pulled into a gas station located nearby. We then spent somewhere between 15 minutes to an hour waiting for the smoke to stop. When we lifted the hood of the car and checked out the engine, we found out that it was out of coolant and oil, even though my dad had recently checked out the same car to make sure everything was good. We put in more oil and coolant and waited for the smoke to disappear. Once the smoke was gone, we tried (Notice the word tried) to leave, but it began smoking again as soon as we starting moving. We turned around in the parking area of the gas station and stopped in another parking space and waited for the smoke to disappearagain. Once it was gone, we began the trip home. We took U.S. highway 41 on our return trip instead of Interstate 75, because both roads parrallel each other for most of the war between Atlanta (Georgia, USA), and Chattanooga (Tennessee, USA), because it would not cause the enigne to get hot really quick. We made it through Ringgold before the engine began overheating again and we had to stop at this small pull-off where a US Civil War battle occured. We spent a half-hour waiting for the engine to cool off. When it finally did, we continued to try to make it home. We had to stop off at a gas station located next to the Interchange/Exit 345 with Interstate 75 to refill the car's gas tank (We orginally planned to fill up at the gas station we were stuck at in Fort Olgethorpe, but, well, you can tell what happened then). When we had the car filled up, we were able to make it from there, through Tunnel Hill, (Georgia, USA. Located on U.S. Highway 41), and had to stop again at a gas station on the other side of Tunnel Hill. When the engine colled off, we headed onwards to home. We only had to stop one more time: at a grocery station (one of a series of grocery stores with the name 'Food Lion') that was just a mile from home. When the engine cooled down again, we were finally able to make it home, which took about an hour and a half when it takes us about fifteen minutes to get to Exit 350 without stopping. The worst part was when we got home. We were pulling into the driveway when the engine suddenly died (I mean the engine stopped working as though the ignition had been turned off); so my mom and I had to push the car the last few feet to get it out of the road to prevent someone from hitting the rear bumper as they pass by our house. Unfortunately, we did not take into count the difficulty it would take to get a tire out from the front yard back onto the driveway (the ground is about an inch lower than the driveway). After a few tries, my mom got into the car and was able to get the engine to start and was able to get the car the last few feet into the driveway. My sister (who actually drives the car more than everyone else), mom and me tried to get to church yesterday (Sunday, March 11th, 2012) using the same car (which was the only car running that we had), but faced the same problems as we did on Saturday. I'm willing to say that everyone has at least once had their car break down when chasing trains.
It was Saturday, March 10th, 2012. I had planned on going to a model railroad convention held by the Train Collectors Association's Chattanooga (Tennessee, USA) Division being held at the convention center in Ringgold (Georgia, USA (Why it wasn't being held in Chattanooga, I don't know)). My mom & I took United State Highway 41 to Interchange/Exit Number 345 (Tunnel Hill (Georgia, USA) and Ringgold (Georgia, USA)) with Interstate 75 (Note: The Interchange/Exit Number is approximate), nicknamed 'I-75'. From there, we traveled up Interstate 75 to Exit 350 (Fort Olgethorpe (Georgia, USA)/ Ringgold (Georgia, USA)). We stopped at a traffic light at the bottom of the 'off ramp' (a road that connects the Interstate to a Road at an Interchange/Exit (Ramp) and is a ramp that vehicles take to get 'off' an interstate (Off)) and waited to turned onto the road (Georgia State Highway 2(Highway 2)) and head towards the Convention Center that this Convention was occuring at. However, things began going downhill as soon as we turned onto Highway 2, the smoke began to appear from above the hood of the car. We quickly pulled into a gas station located nearby. We then spent somewhere between 15 minutes to an hour waiting for the smoke to stop. When we lifted the hood of the car and checked out the engine, we found out that it was out of coolant and oil, even though my dad had recently checked out the same car to make sure everything was good. We put in more oil and coolant and waited for the smoke to disappear. Once the smoke was gone, we tried (Notice the word tried) to leave, but it began smoking again as soon as we starting moving. We turned around in the parking area of the gas station and stopped in another parking space and waited for the smoke to disappearagain. Once it was gone, we began the trip home. We took U.S. highway 41 on our return trip instead of Interstate 75, because both roads parrallel each other for most of the war between Atlanta (Georgia, USA), and Chattanooga (Tennessee, USA), because it would not cause the enigne to get hot really quick. We made it through Ringgold before the engine began overheating again and we had to stop at this small pull-off where a US Civil War battle occured. We spent a half-hour waiting for the engine to cool off. When it finally did, we continued to try to make it home. We had to stop off at a gas station located next to the Interchange/Exit 345 with Interstate 75 to refill the car's gas tank (We orginally planned to fill up at the gas station we were stuck at in Fort Olgethorpe, but, well, you can tell what happened then). When we had the car filled up, we were able to make it from there, through Tunnel Hill, (Georgia, USA. Located on U.S. Highway 41), and had to stop again at a gas station on the other side of Tunnel Hill. When the engine colled off, we headed onwards to home. We only had to stop one more time: at a grocery station (one of a series of grocery stores with the name 'Food Lion') that was just a mile from home. When the engine cooled down again, we were finally able to make it home, which took about an hour and a half when it takes us about fifteen minutes to get to Exit 350 without stopping. The worst part was when we got home. We were pulling into the driveway when the engine suddenly died (I mean the engine stopped working as though the ignition had been turned off); so my mom and I had to push the car the last few feet to get it out of the road to prevent someone from hitting the rear bumper as they pass by our house. Unfortunately, we did not take into count the difficulty it would take to get a tire out from the front yard back onto the driveway (the ground is about an inch lower than the driveway). After a few tries, my mom got into the car and was able to get the engine to start and was able to get the car the last few feet into the driveway. My sister (who actually drives the car more than everyone else), mom and me tried to get to church yesterday (Sunday, March 11th, 2012) using the same car (which was the only car running that we had), but faced the same problems as we did on Saturday. I'm willing to say that everyone has at least once had their car break down when chasing trains.